The Annual Meeting marked an important point of continuity between the Alliance built during EU GREEN’s first project phase and the cooperation its universities will continue to develop in the coming years.
A central joint session, “Shaping the Future of EU GREEN: Strategic Priorities and Shared Commitments,” brought together the Alliance’s four governance bodies to discuss the Student Declaration, the Global Strategic Roadmap and COP2 as a strategic tool.
This was followed by a session specifically dedicated to the closure of the current project and the transition towards the next phase. The programme addressed final reporting and project closure as well as the new Grant Agreement, culminating in a symbolic signing ceremony involving the Alliance’s universities.
The signing represented both a milestone and a statement of continuity. After four years of developing common structures, initiatives and communities across nine European universities, the partners reaffirmed in Oradea their shared commitment to the future of EU GREEN.
Rather than starting again from scratch, the next phase will build on the experience and cooperation developed since the creation of the Alliance. The discussions in Oradea therefore focused not only on completing the current project, but on strengthening EU GREEN as a long-term framework for collaboration between its universities and their communities.
Strengthening governance and shared priorities
The Annual Meeting also provided an opportunity for EU GREEN’s governance bodies to review the work carried out during the current phase and address some of the priorities that will shape the Alliance in the coming years.
The Board of Rectors discussed institutional integration and sustainability, regional engagement and impact, governance and the legal framework, among other strategic issues. The Senate addressed the Alliance’s deliverables, the Students’ Declaration and its governance procedures, while the Executive Committee worked on the closure of current workplans, quality and impact, Agora and the future engagement of EU GREEN associated partners.
Bringing these different perspectives together allowed EU GREEN to connect the completion of the current funding period with a broader discussion about how cooperation can become increasingly embedded across the Alliance.
The meeting also placed these conversations within the wider European Universities ecosystem. The opening programme included the panel “Advancing Access, Diversity and Inclusion through European University Alliances,” bringing perspectives from CIVIS, ENHANCE, FOREU4ALL and UNITA to Oradea. Discussions explored inclusion, flexible learning pathways and the institutional and national impact of European University Alliances.
The exchange provided an opportunity to connect EU GREEN’s own development with the experiences of other alliances and with the broader transformation taking place across European higher education.
Student participation in the future of the Alliance
Students played an important role throughout the Annual Meeting, participating alongside the other governance bodies in discussions on EU GREEN’s strategic priorities and future.
The Student Council reviewed its development and continued its work around the Students’ Declaration, while the final day in Oradea included elections for the new Student Council representatives.
The renewal of student representation comes at the same time as EU GREEN prepares for its next phase, reinforcing the role of students as an integral part of the Alliance’s governance and decision-making structures.
Joint sessions between the Board of Rectors, Senate, Executive Committee and Student Council further reflected this approach, creating spaces where the different levels of EU GREEN governance could contribute to a shared discussion about the Alliance’s future.
An Alliance moving forward together
The Annual Meeting in Oradea brought together two important dimensions of EU GREEN’s development: the completion of its first project phase and the preparation of the next stage of cooperation among its nine universities.
Four years of collaboration have created structures, communities and connections across the Alliance. The challenge of the next phase will be to build on that foundation, deepening institutional cooperation and translating the experience accumulated during the first funding period into new opportunities for students, staff, universities and their regions.
The signing of the Grant Agreement provides the framework for that next chapter, while the discussions and shared commitments in Oradea demonstrated the determination of the nine partner universities to continue developing EU GREEN together.
In this sense, the final Annual Meeting of the current project phase was not simply a conclusion. It represented a transition: an opportunity to recognise what has been built over the past four years while collectively committing to the future of the Alliance.
